"If you only play for the applause, then you place your happiness in the hands of the audience."
All of us have been affected by Covid to varying degrees over the past two years. When the pandemic hit in March 2020 and the country went into lockdown various races and events were suddenly postponed or cancelled outright. Personally my race calendar went out the window as well.
I was fortunate to have a close friend and a coach at the time who made sure we weren’t focusing on event's but the continued improvement of our triathlon skills. Events would appear if we were diligent. With a plan to challenge yesterday's results daily we continued training and working on better technique and aerobic performance.
The draw of crowds at races couldn't be my drive for doing well in this sport. I had to find happiness in my own daily training routines. Some of them were with squads but mostly my only training partner was myself.
My determined dedication to nailing every session meant my swimming went from a lackluster 1 - 2 sessions a week of around 2500m each to 3 - 4m 4000m plus sessions. I've been fortunate to partner with Swim Skin Body in this regard. I love the products and what they do for my skin in particular but the company also exudes the characteristics I respect. Honesty and vulnerability and research based ingredients. As well as being Australian owned I have so much time for Kate and her products - disclaimer is that I use the skin products and not the hair ones. I wish I had hair to try these. ;)
In QLD we were lucky that the 2020 Sunshine Coast 70.3 went ahead. I registered for this and raced to gain a 70.3 World Championship slot. 5 months earlier I could've given the year away but by staying disciplined to each new sunrise I qualified for my first World Championship. Two weeks later on a whim I raced Cairns Ironman and earned my slot at the Ironman World Championship Kona.
Was I the best in my Age Group that day? No. But I was the one who showed up and made the most of opportunities instead of complaining about obstacles. My other favourite quote is by John Wooden, an American basketball coach: “When opportunity comes, it is too late to prepare.”
Be ready for the opportunities every morning when the alarm goes and you desperately want to hit snooze. You never know what the day holds when you turn up.
Written by Neill King
Follow Neill on Instagram @neill.l.king